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Winning Entries (3): HarperCollins India’s short-story writing contest ‘In Write Spirit’ with #TNIEBengaluru.

We received some amazing entries for our short-story writing contest ‘In Write Spirit’ in partnership with  #TNIEBengaluru.

Five winners have been chosen and this is one of the winning entries!

 

Plotting the twist by Anup Joshi

Well, we have put in a lot of time, lot of effort, haven’t we?”
“Yes, we have. Like a billion years!”
“Ha! Do you like how it has turned out?”
“Why, yes! Don’t you?”
“There is all the necessary masala, we pulled many strings, manipulated plenty of events. But now, I feel, things are getting repetitive,something is — lacking.”
“You think so?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Hmm. Then let us review it, shall we? We do not want all those efforts to be wasted.”
“No, we do not.”
“So first, the characters?”
“Yes, the characters. We never had one central character. Has that been a problem?”
“I do not think so. For a story that spans eons, it is not possible either. In our story, heroes are born, they perform their acts of heroism, and they die. Then more heroes are born and the cycle continues. It has worked well for us this long, has it not?”
“It has, I must agree.”
“What about the current crop of main characters that we have in the story?”
“Let us see. On the current stage, we have several intriguing characters sprinkled throughout. There is The Demagogue, The Clown, The Strongman, The Spy…”
“Quite a good mix. I particularly like the way The Clown character has developed. He has brought some much-needed humour to the story. Actually, each of the characters is unique — in their background, their emotional curve, their personal growth – how they became the people they are now.”
“Ok, then! We are good with the characters! Let us move on. The setting?”
“We cannot change the setting that has served us so well! We have developed it with such attention to detail, that even after so many years, they are still trying to figure out the complexities.”
“Ok, ok. The plot then? Should we look there?”
“Yes. Let us review the plot lines over the last decade.”
“Did we have an economic crisis?”
“Yes. One at the beginning of this decade.”
“Social unrests?”
“We have had several. Arab Spring, Migrant crisis, etc.”
“Terrorist attacks?”
“Plenty.”
“Civil wars?”
“That plot is still unresolved in various parts of the world.”
“International conflicts? Trade wars?”
“Ongoing.”
“Ecological crises, tsunamis, earthquakes?”
“Recurring. More are being planned.”
“What else?”
“I have an idea. It is not completely novel, I admit, but neither has it been tested for a long time. We have not seen how it will affect the current stage the story is in.”
“Is that so? What idea is that?”
“I am quite excited; it will definitely stir things up! Let me just implement and show it to you.”
“Oh, yes, please. I am quite eager to see what it will be!”
“Great. Here we go, let me write it down. Plot twist coming up – “
“It was then that the unsuspecting man had his first sip of a freshly-made bat soup in the city of Wuhan.”


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